In need of assistance: what's the original source for Pellaeon ordering the retreat at Endor? I feel like it was in TTT, but I don't remember where.

it may have been WEG TTT sourcebooks- Heir to the Empire mentions "the order to withdraw" but not who gave it- only that Pellaeon took over the ship he was on after its commander was killed- and tried to "hold things together" after Endor:

Heir to the Empire:
p7:

With the Executor's leadership gone, the battle had quickly turned into a confused rout, with several other Star Destroyers being lost before the order to withdraw had finally been given. Pellaeon himself, taking command when the Chimaera's former captain was killed, had done what he could to hold things together, but despite his best efforts, they had never regained the initiative against the Rebels. Instead, they had been steadily pushed back … until they were here.

Plus, the idea of the Escape Pod series is to choose one self-contained element, and an entire story doesn't really fit the bill for that. Keeping Mindor, f.e., means keeping Vastor, Rostu, Shysa, etc., which is cheating.

Shadows of Minor captured Luke better than anyone and has one of the most brilliantly written scenes with Derek "Hobbie" Kilivan ever written in the EU.

In fact, the scene with Hobbie may be one of the best EU scenes ever. In perfect Stove fashion, we see Hobbie "fret" over losing a limb, only to realize that it, as well as a good portion of the rest of his body, is robotic.